Trains and Trails of Nassau County FLA: September 2013

Saturday, September 14, 2013

CSX now working on double tracking another segment of the Callahan-Baldwin sub

Looking south from Sandy Ford Rd. grade crossing (about MM 18.4). The newly opened crossover is just behind the photographer The two tracks are open from this point north to the Callahan Junction (MM 20.0) with the main line at MM 624.4

Looking north from Crawford Road grade crossing at MM 15.9.

Looking south from the Crawford Road grade crossing toward the Norfolk Southern diamond (MM 15.46) and the beginning of the extended Crawford siding. (MM 15.3).

A Norfolk Southern Triple Crown trailer train plows southward through what will become a double diamond with the CSX's Callahan-Baldwin sub.

Amelia Island Swing Span Bridge and Trestle

The Amelia Island Swing Span connects Amelia Island with mainland Nassau County. Once owned and used by CSX, it is now in the hands of First Coast Railroad. The first bridge, a mammoth 6000+ feet wooden trestle and draw bridge, was built by McDowell and Callahan for David Yulee's Florida Railroad in 1855. The wood trestle has long since been shortened and replaced with concrete pilings. The metal span pictured was once the span of the Florida East Coast's bridge over the St. Johns River in Palatka. When they dismantled the bridge, they placed the swing span upon a barge and shipped it here where it still plays a vital role in Nassau's rail network.